U.S. Geologists Discover $1 Trillion in Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan

Members of the TFBSO geology team collected samples of carbonatite deposits at Khanneshinin Helmand Province, while U.S. Marines provide security, Sept. 2009.
During a 12-week assessment, over 50 members of TFBSO teams conducted more than 60 individual site visits throughout Afghanistan, assessing many critical sectors of the Afghan economy.

Pentagon

U.S. geologists have concluded that Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries after 30 years of violence and war, lies atop a bonanza of mineral riches that could transform it into a wealthy nation.

The world class deposits of copper, iron ore and some other fairly exotic minerals have been estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey, which has been working to identify resources in Afghanistan, at more than $1 trillion.

But those riches which could help end the country's vicious cycle of poverty and even more vicious cycle of war may remain tantalizingly out of reach over the next few years.

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"Turning the potential of Afghanistan's mineral wealth into actual revenue will take years," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said today. "And mineral extraction faces numerous, but not insurmountable challenges."

American officials have long said that Afghanistan must develop long term sustainable economic sources of income that would provide a larger revenue stream so it can provide government services and security for itself after NATO forces leave.

Under Secretary for Defense Policy Michele Flournoy told a Congressional panel a few weeks ago, "We are working with the Afghan ministries on long-term economic development ... they're very rich in strategic minerals and resources, very rich in agriculture, helping them to develop sustainable long-term sources of income for the nation."

Stunning Discovery in Afghanistan

Geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey have been working in Afghanistan for the past couple of years surveying locations across the country and have concluded that it contains vast mineral deposits. A Pentagon task force that has helped to develop Iraq's long term economic viability has been working with Afghan ministries to begin the process of helping them with the expertise some believe could turn Afghanistan into one of the world's most important mining centers.

U. S. Central Command's Gen. David Petraeus described Afghanistan's mineral resources in a radio interview last December with ABC News.

"It has some of the world's remaining unexploited world class deposits of copper, iron ore and some other fairly exotic minerals. And it has some limited natural gas. The estimates of the worth of these deposits are quite substantial," he said.

Petraeus told a Congressional committee three months ago that what makes these deposits valuable is that they are "a couple of the only world-class fields left."

Even President Karzai Has Difficulty Imaging Afghanistan Potential Wealth

Besides $420 billion worth of iron and $274 billion worth of copper, Afghanistan possesses concentrations of gold with an estimated value of $25 billion, according to USGS.

In addition, there are $81 billion worth of niobium deposits, a mineral used in superconducting materials, and $50 billion worth of cobalt.

Other items that can be mined in sizeable quantities include molybdenum, which is used in high strength steel alloys, asbestos, silver, aluminum, graphite, lapis lazuli and other industrial minerals.

A Chinese firm recently signed a contract with the Afghan government to develop a copper mine, but given the lack of an infrastructure in Afghanistan and the current security situation, other potential investors are few and far between.